Posted by Vizion on 09/08/05 20:44

On Thursday 08 September 2005 09:49, the author Rory Browne contributed to
the dialogue on-
Re: [PHP] php.ini and php.config Tutorial?:

>Hi David
>
>I know that quite a lot of online docs can be daunting for new users,
>but you should not underestimate the quality of the php documentation.


Sure -- I did look at those - my feeling is that they are high on providing
the facts but low on providing meaning, context and interpretation.

Mathematically it is easy to understand x+y=z but if you do not know or cannot
know the value attributable to x or y or z the formula is ******* useless. In
my view one needs to distinquish between documentation (which records what
something does in technical terms) and the qualities of a manual which
explains which might refer to the documentation as it seeks to explain how
and why one should choose to apply the options defined in the documentation.

The php.net references the general documentation stanfard is superb but I
found it to be somewhat lacking in its ability to meet the expectations of a
manual. However, unless I missed a salient link, I did not find the brief
section on installation and configuration very useful.

Incidentally the book by Luke Welling & Laura Thomson, PHP and MySQL web
Development seemed to promisong in fulfilling the manual role for programming
PHP. I was however disappointed because but the general standard throughout
the book does not seem to have been carried through to the Appendix on
installation and configuration. It does not go into detail in regard to
configuration options.

I have written to the authors in the hope they might give consider devoting a
full chapter to that topic in their next edition.

Do you happen to have any other suggestions?

Thanks

david
>
>On 9/8/05, Vizion <vizion@vizion.occoxmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi
>>
>> Background:
>> I am installing php with apache2 and ssl, mysql-server-5.0.11 on one of my
>> Freebsd 5.3. servers. I propose to run a forum (currently investigating
>> phpbb but would like to consider others) and am also looking for suitable
>> blog and wiki applications. I am more of a system administrator than a
>> programmer although I do have considerable experience of some programming
>> languages.
>>
>> Questions:
>> 1.
>> As I am new to php I would appreciated if someone could help me locate a
>> tutorial which not only describes what is in the configuration files
>> (which the distributed configuration files do quite well) but also, some
>> explanations that might be understood by a php neophyte, plus guidance and
>> detailed examples on one might choose on option over another in different
>> circumstances. For those who are not familiar with php the configuration
>> files can appear daunting.
>
>http://www.php.net/manual/en/configuration.php
>
>> 2.
>> Recomendations for forum, wiki and blog modules.
>
>www.hotscripts.com
>
>> Thanks
>> david
>> --
>> 40 yrs navigating and computing in blue waters.
>> English Owner & Captain of British Registered 60' bluewater Ketch S/V
>> Taurus. Currently in San Diego, CA. Sailing bound for Europe via Panama
>> Canal after completing engineroom refit.
>>
>> --
>> PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/)
>> To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php

--
40 yrs navigating and computing in blue waters.
English Owner & Captain of British Registered 60' bluewater Ketch S/V Taurus.
Currently in San Diego, CA. Sailing bound for Europe via Panama Canal after
completing engineroom refit.

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